My favorite time of year calls for a RETURN!

Well hello there sports fans....welcome back to Goldy's.  It has been a while since I last gave you sports fodder to discuss, and now I have decided to re-open the doors and make a good run at making this place bigger and more interactive than before! 

With a new re-dedication to talking sports and covering all those important topics (well what we sports junkies consider important) its time to come back during what is always my FAVORITE time of year!  Second only to Opening day of baseball season, this point in the year is great because there is nothing like September baseball and the beginning of the NFL season!!

First September baseball.....I mean come on...if you enjoy baseball even just a little bit this is the month that is the most exciting.  I know...I know..October is what gets the hype machine going, but the fuel for that machine is SEPTEMBER!  Just think back to 2011....there may not have been a better last week in any sport EVER than the last week of the season that September....Epic Collapses (Red Sox fans are still crying in their Fried Chicken and smashing Robert Andino Bobble heads), tremendous comebacks...Late inning magic (Orioles magic to be exact....well Evan Longoria may have had his moment too).  Think back to 2007 and the FREAKIN Colorado Rockies.   Completely out of it at the beginning of August and get close by September to then rattle off 14 wins in their last 15 games to not only get to the playoffs but then advance to the World Series (Seattle is still waiting to get that far)...Here is a few other..maybe a little more historical, September baseball moments...

1) 1961---Roger Maris Ties, and passes a guy, named Babe Ruth for most Home runs in a season by hitting number 61.
2) 1995---Baseball Crowns a New Iron Man as Cal Ripken passes Lou Gehrig for most consecutive games played at 2131.
3) 2001---When baseball finally returns to New York after the horrific 9/11 attacks, Mike Piazza (should be in HOF) came to bat in the bottom of the 8th with the Mets down 2-1 and hit what may be the loudest cheered HR in history!
4) 2011--- Mariano Rivera passes Trevor Hoffman for most career saves....and still ONLY THROWS ONE PITCH!!

Those are just some historical facts....I didnt even cover the 1982 AL race between Milwaukee's Harvey's Wall bangers and the Earl's Baltimore Orioles.....the race in 78 between the Yanks an Red Sox ending in Bucky Dents blast...This year wont be any different, as only 2 division races are locked up and everything else is up for grabs.  Here is how I see it playing out:

American League:
East--Boston
Central--Tigers
West---Oakland
Wildcard 1---Texas
Wildcard 2---TB
ALCS---Detroit Vs Boston

National League:
East---Atlanta
Central---Pittsburgh
West---Dodgers
Wild Card 1---St. Louis
Wild Card 2--- Cincinnati
NLCS---Dodgers Vs Braves

World Series:
Dodgers Vs Tigers------Tigers in 5

Now on to Football....The NFL has had a rocky off season but that may have honestly just added to the lore and raised the excitement level to a new level.  The Baltimore Ravens attempt to become the first team since the '04 Spytriots....I mean Patriots to win back to back Super bowls...

Everyone knows I love the city of Baltimore and all teams that reside...but there will be no repeat...Not this year.  What I love ost about the start is the preseason picks by the "experts"...there isnt a bigger bunch of guessers out there, well other than weather men.  This is pointless to do, because the decision making is done based on whats on paper only (lets face it preseason proves nothing either) and as we all know games are not played on paper but played inside of Televisions (credit:Kenny Mayne)....So I figure why not join in on the fun and make some senseless picks that have as much a chance to be right as experts like Clayton, Schefter and Mortenson....

AFC:
East---Patriots by default---They are a pro team in a division with college Division 2 teams
North---Ravens--Why the hell not?
South---Colts--Andrew Luck is the best QB in this division
West---Denver--Really?
Wildcards---Bengals and Chiefs
AFC Championship---Broncos/Ravens---Broncos win

NFC:
East---Cowboys--Laugh now...but watch
North---Lions--Why Not
South---Saints--Sean Payton equals Wins
West---SF--Just too good
Wildcards---Seahawks/Redskins
NFC Championship---Saints/SF---Saints Win

BRONCOS win the Super Bowl...Peyton Manning retires


Alright now its your turn.....Give me your baseball and NFL picks....tell me what you think of my insanity....and most of all Lets Drink up and TALK SOME SPORTS!!!

GOLDY!

Baltimore update....

So it has been a while since the bar last opened for discussion, and hopefully we won't need to be gone this long again.  I am working on adding a new audio portion to the blog and possible video blogs as well.  For right now though lets dive in to the recent Baltimore sports news that has been out and open the discussion on your thoughts...

HERE WE GO....

Ray Rice's Agent says he deserves Adrian Peterson $$$$$$$...

Lets get ahold of some reality here folks because Ray Rice doesn't deserve AP money or even Chris Johnson money.  Hell Chris Johnson doesn't even deserve Chris Johnson money.  He got that contract because the Titans couldnt afford to lose Jeff Fisher, Vince Young AND CJ at one time so they over paid..BIG TIME.  The fact is that the NFL running back is COMPLETELY replaceable in today's NFL.  Just look at the draft as there is rarely a RB taken in the 1st round these days (Rice taken 2nd rd, Arian Foster undrafted, leGarrette Blunt taken 7th rd) and when was the last time a team with a feature back or super RB won a Super Bowl? (Sorry Giant fans your guys are not top backs)

Ray Rice's agent better be looking at the new Arian Foster deal and hoping that is what the Ravens offer instead of his client playing on a one year franchise tag.  The Arian Foster deal shows exactly my point to the value of today's RB and is the exact right contract for Foster and Rice.  His deal is a 5yr $43.5 million contract with $20.75 guaranteed.  I hear you die hards though.."Ray Rice is a way better back and means more to his offense than Foster"..is he really?  Look at this..

Career.                                                                  2011 regular season

Foster--25 yrs old entering 4th yr.                        1224 yds 10 TD's 53 rec 617 yds 2 TD's
3097 yds 29 td's

Rice--25 yrs old entering 5th year.                        1364 yds 12 TD's 76 rec 704 yes 0 TD's
4377 yds 24 td's

Fact is they are the same player. Ray's agent needs to understand that $21 mill guaranteed on a 5 yr deal is better than $7.5 mill guaranteed on a one year franchise tag where his client could blow out his knee and never play again....Trust me OZZIE knows this...

DO YOU THINK HE DESERVES MORE?

Spring training is here and the O's are on the field!!!

This is one of my favorite times of year as Spring has HOPE springing eternal for all MLB fans and their teams.  The Orioles new dynamic duo of Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter have put together quite the spring training squad.  As I have stated before they are clearly looking to improve on depth,especially in the pitching department.  The Orioles have 12 pitchers competing for the starting rotation with probably only 1 spot close to set with Tommy Hunter.  On top of that is the fact that 7 of those 12, and at least another 10-12, are competing for bullpen spots.  So here are 5 questions for the O's and my response to them. 
1.  What will this starting rotation look like?
Well I honestly believe the Orioles are headed in the right direction with what has been rumored to be planned.  The Orioles are going to send the young guns back to AAA and make them force Buck and Dan to bring them up because they are pounding on the proverbial door.  They have brought in enough MLB experience and depth to do that. So here is my guess at the starting rotation day 1.  Hunter, Chen, Arrieta, Evaland, Hammel.  This makes Matusz, Tillman, Britton and Bergesen prove they are ready. (Side note: Britton is going to start season on the DL if I had to guess right now) 
2. Will Brian Roberts be back and if not who bats lead off?
I think that unfortunately the most we get from B-Rob is what we got last year..20-30 games Max.  He apparently has made it through workouts so far with no problems, but we have heard this story before.  I feel for b-rob as this has to be just so hard on him and his psyche.  With that said though there needs to be a plan going forward.  I have said before that I think, at this stage in his career, Nick Markakis would be a good value at lead off.  He is fast enough to steal 15-20 bases, he hits 40-50 doubles, bats close to .300, strikes out very little, hits 15-18 hrs and gets on base.  Add 20 steals to that and I just described Brian Roberts.  I have also heard that you could see Reimold in that spot.  He gets on base like crazy, is the second fastest guy on the team, and can hit 20 hrs....take away a walk or 7 and add in some K's and I just described Brady Anderson, and last I checked he was a pretty good lead off hitter on a pretty good team once.
3. Who is the closer?
Barring injury its Jim Johnson.  There is no question to that I think.  If he gets hurt you can use Lindstrom.  Kevin Gregg won't close in Baltimore again ...
4. Whose on first?
I think Chris Davis starts there but he better watch out for Wilson Betemit if he hits, or Nick Johnson if he is health....sorry I couldn't even get that one out.  Understand though if you can get 100 games from Nick Johnson your lineup is WAAAAY better off.  Chris Davis is on his last stand I think.  If he can cut out the strikeouts and have better AB'S we may have the middle of the order guy we have been clammering for. (30-35 HR'S not out of the question for him)
5. Will they get back to. 500?
Plain and simple...NO.  It is not possible for them to do it with how good the rest of the division has gotten over the offseason.  Now don't misconstrue what I am saying here.  This team WILL be way more competitive this year and will play very good baseball (see Showalters year 1 vs year 2 stats).  They will be a team NO ONE wants to face, and will be another pain for some playoff teams in September and October, but as long as the unbalanced schedule exists(this is the last year thank god) they just don't have a shot at getting back to. .500.  I would also say that no team in the AL East will get to 100 wins this year because they will be too busy beating the crap out of each other.  NO OTHER DIVISION IS CLOSE TO THE AL EAST!!

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THESE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS?  LETS HEAR YPUR THOUGHTS.

GOLDY